Spooky Season 2023: The Exorcist: Believer Review

The Exorcist: Believer arrives in theaters just a few short months before the original classic celebrates it’s 50^th anniversary. The film was made through Blumhouse and the same creative team as the most recent Halloween trilogy where they followed the same approach by erasing the events of all prior sequels and instead only connecting with the first film. When two young girls named Angela (Lidya Jewett) and Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) disappear into the woods and return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, Angela’s father, Victor (Odom Jr.), seeks out Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), who’s been forever altered by what happened to her daughter Regan fifty years ago, for help in getting his daughter and her friend back. As a strong defender of the most recent and strongly divisive Blumhouse Halloween trilogy, it’s a shame to report that the film is a massive disappointment and should’ve been so much better considering the team attached and its connection to one of the greatest horror films ever made.

While the film isn’t quite the disaster it’s been made out to be, it absolutely pales in comparison to the original and is arguably the most unnecessary legacy sequel to date. For the most part, it is merely an incredibly generic possession film whose connection to the original is minimal at best. Once the film establishes how it’s a legacy sequel, all that work feels rushed and forced but worse of all, it absolutely wastes Burstyn in her return as Chris MacNeil. In a role that could have been so much more, the result is an insult to the character. One of the film’s biggest issues is how it awkwardly balances between carving a new path while still trying to honor the original instead of finding a steady middle ground between the two. The filmmakers should have gone all in on a legacy sequel or simply just removed “The Exorcist” from the title. That balancing act is not only frustrating but it will likely anger diehard fans of the original for how certain character are handled and portrayed.

It’s also a bit of a shame that a sequel to what’s still considered the scariest films of all time just isn’t scary in the absolute slightest. Most of its attempts to scare audiences are mostly cheap and loud jump scares or tired and lazy horror tropes that have become exhausting. Meanwhile, the editing is noticeably choppy to the point in a way which at times implies heavy studio interference. The inevitable third act isn’t bad to watch but it feels like a greatest hits collection from the best possession films before ending on a pretty unsatisfying and surprisingly mean-spirited note that will likely rub a lot of audiences the wrong way and anger others.

All that being said, there are some bright spots that keep it mostly watchable. Odom Jr. is great as always, and probably the only member of the cast who manages to come out completely unharmed by this script, but most of the cast is still solid namely Dowd. Jewett and O’Neill are very good as well, especially in their possessed state. The central relationship between Odom Jr. and Angela works and is easy to invest in, even if it could’ve been explored more, while Katherine and her relationship with her mother Miranda (Nettles) and father Tony (Norbert Leo Butz) essentially took a backseat. Despite not being that scary, there are some genuine creepy moments found in its imagery or it’s being more subtle moments. Getting off to a promising start with an engaging opening act, as soon as the possession is added to the equation, the film quickly goes downhill from there.

In the end, The Exorcist: Believer isn’t good but it’s the type of misfire that’s at least marginally watchable and decently made, just enough to avoid being terrible. It’s just a shame that the talented filmmakers involved completely missed the point of what made the original so effective and instead, delivered something so underwhelming in comparison. Easily one of the more disappointing films of the year, it marks a rough start for a supposed new trilogy of Exorcist films, even if it could have and already has been made out to be way worse.

still courtesy of Universal Pictures

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/